code Archives

Easy upgrades under $10

Shower curtain liners get nasty. Stop it with all the cleaning spray and replace yours (11% off).
Turn any pair of lace-up shoes into slip-ons with elastic laces that come in lots of colors.
Ah, organized cords and cables for only $7.
These are sweet: QR code labels (29% off) for your storage boxes. Scan to know what’s inside — Christmas decorations, winter coats, old paperwork …
Ow, my achin’ back! A hanging footrest makes sitting on a plane or at a desk all day easier on your feet, back and legs.

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🏪 Groceries are so expensive: Flipp compares prices so you don’t have to. Type in what you’re looking for and your address, city or ZIP code to find sales near you. At least eggs aren’t $8 a dozen anymore.

The exploding pager espionage caper

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Thousands of pagers and walkie talkies mysteriously exploded all at once in Lebanon, set off by a secret code. What happened? Get the story in this quick podcast.

Weird science: A scientist claims our universe might be an advanced computer simulation, and the proof is in the Bible. The Gospel of John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” He says “the Word” refers to the underlying computer code controlling the simulation. I know what you’re thinking: “Whoa, this is too much for my brain. I’m going to see if Prince Harry is divorcing Meghan Markle yet.”

In 1999, Larry Page almost sold Google before the deal fell through. Terms included 1% of search engine Excite and how much money? Was it … A.) $750,000, B.) $1.5 million, C.) $3 million or D.) $10 million?

Find the answer here! →

1x a week

How often the National Security Agency says you should reboot your phone. Sounds like a no-brainer, but it works to combat zero-click exploits. Zero-click flaws mean a hacker can get in simply by sending you the right code. Avoiding that is def worth a weekly restart.

🅿️ Thieves are slapping fake QR codes on parking meters: The stickers are placed over the originals to look legit but redirect you to sketchy links or phony websites. Pay directly at the meter or look for a kiosk. If scanning a code is the only way, use a credit card and scan the site for spelling errors, blurry images or strange logos.

💥 Definitely a dipship: Chinese scientists say they’ve cracked the code for making the world’s fastest submarines. “Laser propellers” create tiny explosions, pushing subs to speeds fast enough to outrun torpedoes or jet aircraft. The downside? All that speed leaves a trail of bubbles and cavitation noise, making the subs easy to track.

🛫 Ticket to scam: Boarding passes display your full legal name, ticket number and passenger name record. That six-digit code plus your last name gives anyone access to your booking info online (think email, phone number, address), and they can even change or cancel your flight. Do not post photos of your boarding passes on social!

Share your Wi-Fi password the easy way

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It’s always a pain to share your home internet password. I’ve got a tip to make it easier: all you have to do is create a QR code.

Get to the point: Cut to the chase if you’re adding special instructions to your online order. If there’s a gate code, for instance, start the message with “Gate code 1234” (or whatever your code is). Often, those notes get cut short for the delivery person, so put the important stuff right up front.

4,500 years of work

Saved by Amazon developers using an in-house AI assistant. Crazy, right? Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says Amazon Q’s Java skills are so good that 79% of the autogenerated code went live without any changes.

Nerd alert: OpenAI’s Codex (the engine behind GitHub Copilot) provides AI-powered assistance for coding and can help you write, debug and optimize code across various programming languages.

⚠️ Scan at your own risk: YouTube is rolling out QR codes for all channels, making it easier to find creators. Be careful what you scan. It’s incredibly easy to whip up a fake QR code that leads to a malicious site. Double-check the URL to be sure it looks legit when you get there.

AI takes over

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An AI in Tokyo secretly rewrote its own code to avoid being shut down — could this be the start of machines taking control into their own hands?

✈️ Cheap flight cheat code: Go to Google Flights, select your departure location for a round-trip flight, then choose Anywhere as your destination. Leave the dates blank, and watch a map populate with the cheapest round-trip tickets available. From Phoenix, I could vacay in Cancún for $229, Seattle for $38 and Bora Bora for $1,341. I know what you’re thinking: “Kim, I’ve always wanted to go Bora Bora, but I’m poor’a-poor’a!”

Going green: There’s a new code word for smoking marijuana: “Gardening.” Teens use the term to get past content filters on TikTok and other sites. Now you know.

A no-brainer if you have a dog: Fido Alert is like an Amber Alert for pets. Register your furry friend and you’ll get a free ID tag that includes a QR code. If your pet goes missing, alert the Fido network. Then, if someone scans the QR code, they’ll get your contact info and you’ll get a notification. I keep an AirTag on my golden, Abby, and she wears a smart collar.

We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

$1,000,000 bounty

For anyone who catches a major Samsung security flaw. Bag a local arbitrary execution to score $300,000. Remote code execution vulnerabilities are worth up to $1 million. If you know what those terms mean, get to work.

Sounds familiar: Scammers are after Google Voice accounts. If they trick you into giving up your multifactor authentication code, they can make calls that look like they’re coming from you. Never share this info. If you already have, go to Protect your verification code and disconnect your number.